U.S. Backs 'Democracy' Only When It Installs Our Hand-Picked Candidate
Mainstream outlets tout María Corina Machado's vow to return to Venezuela for elections, portraying her as the legitimate voice of the people against Nicolás Maduro. This narrative conveniently glosses over her 2014 appearance at a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, where she advocated for foreign intervention, or the extensive financial support the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy
(NED) has channeled to Venezuelan opposition groups for decades. The New Arab article even mentions her ban from holding office—a detail often used to paint Maduro as authoritarian, while ignoring the U.S.'s own history of disqualifying candidates it deems undesirable globally. One might wonder if 'democracy' is the goal, or simply a compliant government. When the U.S. applauds 'opposition
leaders' who have openly sought foreign intervention and received funding for their activities, it raises questions about the genuineness of the democratic process they champion. It’s hard to shake the feeling this is less about the will of the Venezuelan people and more about Washington's preferred outcome.